TheHumanCondition

Day three in Berlin/Germany at large

First off, I hilariously took us straight to the car drop off right after we picked it up. The guy at the counter thought it was funny enough. So I had to maneuver this Alfa Romeo Stelvio backwards through a parking garage. Goddamn stressful. Then we couldn’t get *out* of the parking garage. I mashed on the buttons to get the gate to open and for some unknown reason it eventually worked. God in the machine.

We stopped in Leipzig for lunch before continuing on to Munich. The German countryside is absolutely beautiful. I really enjoyed watching it go by when I wasn’t driving or falling asleep in the car due to staying up to 3AM the night before. We are pretty sure Ryan got us a ticket while he was driving.

When we arrived in Munich we had a comically difficult tie returning the car. Firstly, we couldn’t find the Budget rental building. We stopped and tried to look it up on my phone, but nothing made sense location wise. We pulled into a driveway and turned around. We drove back out to the main road and came from a different side. Still nothing, until we realized that the driveway we turned around in was the Budget rental building. The woman working the desk informed us we would be charged four euro per liter for the tank, so she sent us off to fill it up ourselves. There was a gas station right around the corner, but it turned out to be cash only, and we weren’t going to have enough. Ryan set out on foot to find and ATM and failed miserably. I gave it a shot looking up an ATM on my phone, but ended up back in the Budget car rental building. Which was *very* embarrassing.

At any rate, we eventually found some cash and dropped the car off. Finally we made it to Julia’s. But the disasters didn’t end there. Julia gave us a little walking tour of her area and we drank beers along the Isar. Ryan sliced his finger open trying to open a beer bottle with a 50 euro cent coin. A few hours later, while walking home, I sliced my finger open while trying to open a bottle with a lighter. Bleeding all over my hand, I tried to make a bandaid out of a Field Notes page. It was pretty dark at that point in time and Ryan ran straight into some scaffolding.

Second day in Berlin

Ryan and I set out to go to some hip breakfast spot with a cool general store attached to it. I failed to check to see if it would actually be open. It wasn’t. Some guy recommended we got to a coffee shop about a 12 minute walk from there called westberlin. We got americanos and bizarre salami and sauerkraut breakfast sandwiches.

We stumbled upon Checkpoint Charlie and discussed post WWII Germany history. I tried to get us a tour of Reichstag, but failed pretty spectacularly. So we walked around museum island for a bit people watching and drinking.

First day in Berlin

After barely getting any sleep after the show, we headed to the airport to fly to Berlin. Ryan wouldn’t stop complaining about how little sleep he’d gotten in the last three days.

The gif pretty much sums it up.

Drinks, drinks, and some more drinks. Met up with Molly and her boyfriend.

Third Day in Paris

Ryan Arrives

Ate all three meals with Ryan and Jamie and Co. And honestly, that’s kinda it. It was pretty nice though.

Second day in Paris.

I woke up early and grabbed some breakfast at this bakery nearby that my AirBnb host recommended. He showed me the ‘real ones’ and the ‘fakers’ in the neighborhood (in the Latin Quarter). The Paris marathon was happening somewhere, but I walked over the Notre Dame without seeing any of the runners. A bunch of Chinese tourists made a scene inside Notre Dame while mass was happening. It was weird.

Wanting to distance myself from the incredibly rude Chinese tourists I decided to leave Notre Dame and head to the d’Orsay - but even more of them were waiting for me there.

I think the d’Orsay is the most beautiful museum I have ever been to. I got to see so many pieces of art that I studied in college. It was quite breathtaking. I also got to see art tourism at it’s worst. It seemed as if most people were speed walking through rooms until they saw a name they recognized. They would pause, take a photo on their phone and then keep speed walking. I even watched as people would stop at Van Gogh’s Starry Night Over the Rhône and say, “Oh, it’s not the starry night,” and keep walking.

More and more people are treating their everyday waking life like an instagram feed.

First day in Paris

After dropping my bags off at my AirBnb I headed straight to the Louvre. I spent about four hours there meandering in and out of exhibits before finally arriving at The Raft of The Medusa. I saw a guy get kicked out because he was touching the paintings.

After the Louvre I hung out in the Jardin des Tuileries and watched many fashionable Parisians be annoyed with tourists. Naturally.

Made a shoe change at my AirBnb and headed to Le Jardin du Luxembourg. I stopped by a shop and grabbed a sandwich and a beer. As the sun began to set I sat and watched as more and more young people showed up in groups of 3-5 with bottles of wine, bread, and cured meats. Again, very fashionably dressed. Some little shit drilled me with a soccer ball while I sat and drank my beer, but I was so chilled out like all the Parisians I didn’t even care.

Birthday weekend with Kate at The Stanley.

Drinking along the main drag and dinner at Seasoned. Meat vacation was a good decision for Seasoned. They printed a special menu for me that said, “Happy Birthday, Mark.”

During the night I was startled awake four times. The first three were from what sounded like very large bangs coming from the attic (we were on the fourth floor). Almost like someone dropping a bunch of 2x4s. The last time was because I thought I heard someone moving furniture in the hallway.

Spring snow.

I’ve had this snare for a few months now and goddamn, do I love it.

8x14. Brass w/ black nickel finish. It sings. I currently have it paired up with my Ludwig Breakbeats kit. Great little setup.

Skipped my drum lesson tonight because my stomach was still feeling like balls. Still not sure if was a result of food in Mexico or planes in between.

Home again, home again.

It was definitely a quick first trip down to Mexico, but I hope it is not my last.

It’s always good to get back home and see that my drums are still there and were not stolen in the night. Same with the doggos. I’m glad no one stole them either.

Our second (and last) full day in Mexico featured even more walking than day one. Connie and Flynn went on an eating tour in one of CDMX’s markets while Kate and I strolled through Bosque de Chapultepec. The park is about 1700 acres of beautiful trees, water bodies, and creepy abandoned fountains. Like...Guillermo del Toro creepy fountains.

The park also features a number of museums. Kate and I went to the Museo Arte Moderno  and the Museo Nacional de Antropología. Both really fantastic spots. I feel like the Anthropology Museum needs a solid week to go through. There is so much material spread across not one, but two floors. 

One of the exhibits at the modern art museum focused on an artist that primarily works exploring gender identity. Lots of NSFW photos. Given that it was a Sunday - making the museum free, and it was a Sunday that fell on a three day weekend, there were lots of families there. It was pretty great watching, what looked to be your not so average art goers, stroll around the exhibit with their kids - especially on god’s day.

We met up with Connie and Flynn at the center of the universe, Templo de Tláloc. We grabbed drinks from El Mayor nearby and looked out over the temple ruins.

Scenes from Mexico City

Quick trip down to CDMX.

On our first morning in CDMX we (Kate, Connie, Flynn, and I) walked north from our AirBnB to Lardo. The breakfast was incredible and I had one of the best Americanos of my life there.

After breakfast we headed to Del Carmen. We strolled the neighborhood for a bit before going to the Frida Kahlo Museum. Kate bought tickets well in advance of our trip. Without tickets, the wait was around three hours to enter. 

After learning about Frida and her life we got beers and tacos at Mercado Del Carmen Coyoacan. Imagine Avanti, but less like a club where people are just trying to bang each other. Flynn thought he ordered two tacos, he ordered two plates.

Boozy ice cream and walks through Parque Mexico.

Inside the SALT studio with Meghan Newlin.

A few weeks ago I headed up to Boulder to photograph SALT’s 2017 spring shoot. SALT is the brainchild of my former coworker Meghan. It’s simple really. Handmade, custom cycling caps for men and women, for use on and off the bike.

The maker studio is in a small room off the kitchen in her house. There’s fabric and thread in almost every direction you look. The result of all sorts of crafting experiments populate the floor and tables inside.

While we were waiting to meet up with our models, I watched Meghan finish one more cap for the shoot. I was fascinated at how deftly she operated her sewing machine (it’s the fanciest sewing machine I’ve ever seen). It was like watching someone fly fish or rock climb. Perfect and concentrated execution of their skill. A total pro.